How To Make Recovery From An Addiction A Happy And Fun Thing

Make Your New Life Happy and Fun

You are probably saying to yourself, how can recovery from an addiction be fun right? Remember life is what you make it.

I will try to explain how to make recovery from an addiction a happy and fun thing. We all know when we are addicted to drugs or alcohol it is pretty much our lives and we really don't think much about any thing else beside feeding our addiction.

We the alcoholics, then decide we want to surrender to our addiction, like I did 2 years ago but, we have something in the back of our minds telling us, " how will I survive without my crutch to lean on if I surrender to my addiction?"

We have to tell our self that we are now approaching a new life of recovery and we must make the best of it in any way we can think of. We need to make this recovery from our addiction a happy and fun thing and tell ourselves that our lives will be changed like you have never thought of.

Yes, the life of sobriety is a wonderful thing, and as we all know, we are on this earth only once and have only one life to live, so why live it miserable? Why live it drunk and addicted when we have so much to look forward to being clean and sober.

Anyone can experience recovery from their addiction. All you need to do is to want it, to have the desire of sobriety, and to have the determination and the willingness to make it happen. That's really all there is to it. Without those things, I must say you just maybe addicted for a long time ahead.

When I finally decided to surrender to my addiction to alcohol I was scared to death thinking the same thing, "how can I get through each day of my life being sober?"

Making Recovery Fun

When I began my long road to recovery I thought to myself, lets not make this more miserable than it is and try something different. As you know, our minds and our powerful brains can do things that you have never thought about, such as making something negative into something positive.

I wanted to be sober in the worse way, but I always was afraid of how I would feel with the absence of alcohol in my body. Once I got my start date I was off to the races and nothing, I mean nothing was going to stop me in finding my sobriety and my new life that was ahead of me.

I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I was so determined to be sober I would do anything to get clean and sober.

The first few days I was pulling my hair out, having that darn urge to drink my beer and getting that buzz I missed so much, but I told myself, " I have gone 3 days and I can go another 3 days, and those days turned into weeks and months and now working on years, 2 to be exact..

Once I got over that hurdle and huge craving for alcohol, each and everyday got easier to deal with without my alcohol demons tagging along in my life.

I kind of made a game out of my recovery process, meaning I looked forward to each week that passed and said to myself, "one more week under my belt." I then looked forward to the 27th of each month .Now, I look forward to the 27th of October of each year that passes, but now saying, "I have made it one more year." Looking forward to these special days, weeks, months and years now, gave me the drive I needed to stay sober and the determination to reach my next goal and that was the 27th of each month. I brag to my wife and family saying, "look it is the 27th again and I am still sober." I'm not sure if they get tired of hearing that, but I don't care, I work hard in my recovery and I am going to brag about it till the day I die, so get used to it.

By thinking this way, I knew that if I were to drink one drop of alcohol I would have to start all over at day number one and try this recovery process all over again and I was not going to disappoint myself and start from the beginning again. There was no way in the world I would do that to myself.

I know that little game I was playing and still am playing for the rest of my sober life seems silly to you, but it worked for me and still does to this day. Everyone I'm sure has different ways of dealing with recovery of an addiction and surrendering to their addiction, but this has worked just fine for me. Can I get to the next 27th of the month? You bet I can and I will !!

Comments

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Mark Bruno 5 years agofrom New Jersey Shore

Denise- I do remember the little engine that could. That fits me pretty well , Thank you for everything and for being a good friend as well Denise. Your the greatest !!

Denise Handlon 5 years agofrom North Carolina

Remember that story of the little engine that could? That's you! LOL "I think I can..." and you have...and you will continue to do so. Way to go Marky.

VioletSun 5 years agofrom Oregon/ Name: Marie

I smiled at your upbeat approach. Never thought of turning a goal of staying sober with making it fun. Fantastic approach!

Good to be back commenting, have been hiding as I am finishing my inspirational book, sent it out for editing today. Yay! :)

Voted up!

Author

Mark Bruno 5 years agofrom New Jersey Shore

@ Ktrapp -Thank you for reading and commenting, I do hope my words help someone else that is suffering froman addiction. I thought this would be a great way to get and STAY sober. :)

@ Slaffery - Yes my wife called me on that statement regarding people getting tired of my saying I sober and they said they will never get tired of me bragging and waiting for that special day each month and year. Thank you for your kind words and comment.

@ Anna - Thank you so much! and thanks for reading and commenting as well.

@ stephhicks68 -Thank you Stephanie. I am very proud of my accomplishments and now if I can get some other people to get clean and sober I will be thrilled that I had a part in thier recovery.

@ Seeker7 - Thank you for the Congrats and it would be wonderful if someone would just try this game or idea I came up with and they will see just how fun it can be. To keep the power within you to continue to overcome our inner demons. Doing it this way I feel they will never have a chance to re-enter me body again.

Helen Murphy Howell 5 years agofrom Fife, Scotland

Hi and many, many congratulations!!!

What a great idea and I don't think it's dumb at all. It's a way of, as you say, making a game out of leaving your cravings and addiction behind - but most importantly it worked!

I think this awesome hub will help many others who are starting on this 'new life' to get through the days, weeks and months and show that it can be lighthearted as well as being a great form of therapy.

Voted up + awesome!

Stephanie Hicks 5 years agofrom Bend, Oregon

Way to go! Congratulations on your upcoming 3 year sobriety anniversary!

AnnaStephens 5 years ago

A really interesting and inspiring hub. Well done on your sobriety and what a positive way to look at the challenge and overcome it.

Anna

slaffery 5 years agofrom Kansas, USA

Something you said sticks in my mind. You wondered if your family gets tired of hearing about your anniversary and I would say to you that your life has value to them and the fact that you are coming up on your two year anniversary is something to be celebrated. Once again, congratulations and of course another great hub.

Kristin Trapp 5 years agofrom Illinois

What a wonderful way to accumulate day after day without a drink. Your words I'm sure will be inspirational to anyone in the same situation. It's great knowing it can be done.

Author

Mark Bruno 5 years agofrom New Jersey Shore

@ Barbara Kay- thank you for your kind words. It is lots of work but having sobriety in your life is well worth the work and effort :)